Not Happy Jan

I thought we might see what things we are not impressed with from our own team (national or otherwise), you are not allowed to criticise anyone's choices unless they are supporting the same country as you

"Raab gives the 5pm press conference with the air of a man who strongly suspects there’s a chalk penis drawn on his back, but is just going to butch it out by facing forward till the bell goes."- The Guardian's Marina Hyde on the UK's supply prime minister

I thought we might see what things we are not impressed with from our own team (national or otherwise), you are not allowed to criticise anyone's choices unless they are supporting the same country as you

Am I allowed to do South Africa? England has too many for me to avoid being forced to prioritise.

1) the most obvious one being the Apartheid past. This, of course, was not something of the design of the cricket fraturnity, but had a massive impact, and of course there were cases where those in cricket administration acted in ascending manner. Not only did the system damage the country's prospects by weakening the potential pool of players for 20 years, not to mention the potential opposition, not only did it get them kicked-out for 20 years, thus depriving many of the greatest cricketers produced by the country of any international careers of note, but its effects are still being felt - massively - as of this post, as much inequality remains and steps are taken to reverse discriminate in a manner deemed neccessary by those in charge. Even when no discrimination is present, the suspicion of it retains the potential to do great damage. Whether South African history with no (out-of-the-ordinary) discrimination would ever have been possible is highly questionable and many know far more about it than me. But had it been, and had it happened, cricket in the country would have been inestimably stronger and the game's history there inestimably more esteemed in so many ways.
2) the fact that so many of the best players get perceived outside the country as ****s of various kind. Much of this, of course, is the fault of those doing the perception, but not all, and it's a problem that probably affects South Africa more than any other cricketing country.
3) the fact that so many "big" moments, in ODIs at least, have produced failure. Now, so have many "not so big" moments, of course, but to go out of the home World Cup in the 1st round, the previous one on a ****-up that should simply never happen regardless of anything, the one before that at the first serious hurdle, and the one before that on an unfortunate happening which the team were far from sans-blame for, is deeply depressing. Especially as in every tournament in the 1990s the South Africans could easily have been the best team in the tourney.
4) Peter Heine. Fine, fine bowler, shameful for on-field antics.
5) finding ways to lose Test series to Australia, badly, in which they should be being damn competetive at least. Mostly involving usually brilliant catching going to gutteral standards.
6) Wessel Johannes Cronje. Brilliant captain for a long time, match-fixer on probably no more than a handful of occasions, but unforgiveable occasions. And the way he ensnared the likes of Herschelle Gibbs was appalling.

Am I allowed to do South Africa? England has too many for me to avoid being forced to prioritise.

1) the most obvious one being the Apartheid past. This, of course, was not something of the design of the cricket fraturnity, but had a massive impact, and of course there were cases where those in cricket administration acted in ascending manner. Not only did the system damage the country's prospects by weakening the potential pool of players for 20 years, not to mention the potential opposition, not only did it get them kicked-out for 20 years, thus depriving many of the greatest cricketers produced by the country of any international careers of note, but its effects are still being felt - massively - as of this post, as much inequality remains and steps are taken to reverse discriminate in a manner deemed neccessary by those in charge. Even when no discrimination is present, the suspicion of it retains the potential to do great damage. Whether South African history with no (out-of-the-ordinary) discrimination would ever have been possible is highly questionable and many know far more about it than me. But had it been, and had it happened, cricket in the country would have been inestimably stronger and the game's history there inestimably more esteemed in so many ways.
2) the fact that so many of the best players get perceived outside the country as ****s of various kind. Much of this, of course, is the fault of those doing the perception, but not all, and it's a problem that probably affects South Africa more than any other cricketing country.
3) the fact that so many "big" moments, in ODIs at least, have produced failure. Now, so have many "not so big" moments, of course, but to go out of the home World Cup in the 1st round, the previous one on a ****-up that should simply never happen regardless of anything, the one before that at the first serious hurdle, and the one before that on an unfortunate happening which the team were far from sans-blame for, is deeply depressing. Especially as in every tournament in the 1990s the South Africans could easily have been the best team in the tourney.
4) Peter Heine. Fine, fine bowler, shameful for on-field antics.
5) finding ways to lose Test series to Australia, badly, in which they should be being damn competetive at least. Mostly involving usually brilliant catching going to gutteral standards.

While this is indeed despicable if true, is there any certified evidence that it is?

Even Peter Oborne, one of the biggest "racist critics" as it were, does not seem convinced of it.

I suggest you re-read the chapter titled A Cabal at the MCC. The MCC had sent a letter to the SACA asking for clarification of its position with regards to D'Oliveira touring, but acting on the advice of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Gubby Allen (the then Treasurer) actually refused to accept the reply to avoid the possibility of awkward questions being asked were its contents presented to the full commitee.

It was an over-simplification on my part to say the MCC connived with the Apartheid regime; it's more accurate to say influential factions within the MCC connived with proxy agents of the SA regime. Not an episode that reflects well on English cricket tho.

1. The forcing out of experienced white players and administrators on the grounds of race
2. The occassionally violent repression of any opposition to the ZC line both amongst players (like the employment of Mugabe's favourite thug Themba Mliswa to intimidate Tatenda Taibu's wife and children) and journalists (the treatment of John Ward, one of the hardest working and best cricket journalists in the world, for daring to criticise ZC)
3. The general control and censorship of the press in Zimbabwe's reporting of cricket
4. The way the Logan Cup and domestic competitions have been allowed to be totally devalued
5. The scandalous neglect of most cricket clubs in the country in favour of those with links to the ZC hierarchy, like Takashinga
6. Political interference in selection of the team
7. The behaviour of men like Chingoka and Bvute- petty, nasty, petulant and vile
8. The way Mark Vermeulen was treated- the man needed help and none was offered
9. The flinging of accusations of racism and imperialism against anyone who criticises the continued involvement of Zimbabwe in cricket politics, which for some insane reason the ICC actually believe

I have nothing against anything Zimbabwe have ever done on the cricket field. I can't think of any divisive or controversial action they have ever taken. Maybe that is itself a weakness, since they get taken advantage of.

I will open my heart on a number of things I am/was upset about in Kenyan cricket

1. The scandal behind the misappropriation of the prize money from the 2003 World Cup among other funds
2. the near destruction of domestic cricket by the hard headedness of the parties involved in the player salary dispues through from 2003-2005?
3. Morris Odumbe's dealings with bookies.
4. The T20 World Cup performances.

1. Pitch preparation, although that's not limited to Australia
2. Lack of grace at times, a 'we're the best, don't care what anyone else thinks of us' mentality, that has perhaps ruined the legacy of this side outside Australia.
3. Crowds, specifically those who don't come to watch cricket, but just go to get drunk, cause trouble etc
4. The Sid Barnes case

(1) The Match fixing scandal.
(2) The criminal waste of talent by the PCB due to lack of adequate infrastructure and coaching, combined with cronyism.
(3) Refusal to prepare sporting pitches due to fear of losing.
(4) Shoaib Akhtar.

In the end, I think it's so utterly, incomprehensibly boring. There is so much context behind each innings of cricket that dissecting statistics into these small samples is just worthless. No-one has ever been faced with the same situation in which they come out to bat as someone else. Ever.